Edwin sutton cornish



N0. 6l4,|62. Patented Nov. l5, I898.

- E. S. CORNISH.

s'ounnme APPARATUS.

(Application filed Mar. 1, 1898.)

2 Sheets-Sheet L {No Model.)

m: NORM Pzrzns no. PuoTo-umu wlsmurmm n c No. 6l4,l62. Patented Nov. l5, I898.

E. S. CORNISH.

souunmc APPARATUS.

(Application filed Mar. 1, 1898.) (No mum. 2 Shets-Sheet 2.

Ill/Ill 1 II/ I I NE Noam! ma: ca, PNOYKLLIIMOO wAs nmn-m n I.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWIN SUTTON OORNISI-I, OF LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND.

SOUNDING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 614,162, dated November 15, 1898.

Application filed March 1,1898. Serial No. 672,168. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LEDWIN SUTTON CORNISH, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, and a resident of Liverpool, Lancaster county, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sounding Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to sounding apparatus or appliances for use on board ship wherein a body or bodies is or are lowered from the ship and While the ship is in motion is or are drawn or trailed upon the bottom of the sea, river, &c., and through suitable means indicates upon the ship the depth of water under her at every instant of time.

An apparatus according to this invention is connected to the fore part of a shipsay at the gunWale and comprises towing wires or cords on which are carried a body or bodies, as hereinafter described, so adapted and arranged as to cause the appliance or appli ances at the end opposite that connected to the ship to descend to the bottom by the forward motion of the ship and to rest and be trailed along the bottom, and at this end there is a line connecting it-'-'the end device with the ships deck above, which preferably is taken onto a measuring winch of any known suitable kind which will indicate the depth below the surface.

The above generally indicates or describes the type of sounding apparatus the invention relates to; but its characteristics and the improvements under this invention will be described with reference to and by the aid of the accompanying drawings, which illustrate or show one construction and arrangement of parts by which it is carried out.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation illustrative of the invention applied to a ship and in action. Fig. 2 shows in plan a construction of a part for connecting the appliance to, at the fore part of the ship, and a means for operating it; and Fig. 3 shows in end elevation a device or body connected with the cords for effecting the vertical propulsive effect. c

According to this invention the device or devices of the apparatus which are acted upon by the water as the ship proceeds are held and towed by ropes fastened to it at the up per part and lower part, and they are so ar= ranged that when the device is placed upon or lowered into the water the propelling devices will stand slightly out of the vertical plane, with their lower parts or toes lying 7 forward, and then as the inclination of the propelling devices changes and tends to approach the horizontal plane the deeper it goes into the water. This change is prevented from exceeding a certain point by the employment of a tow rope or ropes connecting the backs of the device or devices of larger area than the front tow-rope, the efiect of which is that these upper or outer ropes are taken up or shortened by their becoming bowed, owing to their greater resistance to the passage through the water, while the other rope keeps comparatively tight and straight. Thus in the case where several of the propelling devices are used in the apparatus the upper or outer cord or cords connecting them together will when they have descended a sub stantial distance and assumed a certain angle present a number of bowed connections, as shown in the drawings, which are the cause of the retention of the devices at such an an gle as will take the apparatus or sounding appliance down to great depths and irrespective of the speed at which the ship may be traveling.

Referring to the drawings, three towingcords are useda single forward or leading cord hand two other separate cords b. To give the difierent areas for the variable resistance to the passage through the water, these cords a, and b may be assumed to be of the same size.

on which it may be wound or taken in and paid out and which will be adapted in any of the well-known ways, through an indicator, to show the distance the end disk 0 has descended and the depth of water under the ship at each and every instant. The line (Z itself may be also marked to indicate the length paid out in the manner of an ordinary lead-line used for sounding.

Normally when the line is out ready for use, but before it is actually put in action, it is laid out alongside of the ship in the position shown in Fig. 1, it being connected or held at the point It at the fore part of the ship with the lower line a slacked away, so that the devices 0 take a position in which the move ment over the water keeps them on the top of the water. When it is desired to put the apparatus in action and sound, the lower line a is hauled in, which reverses the position of the disks c,brin gin g their toes forward, whereupon this forward inclination, coupled with the forward movement of the ship, propels them downward, and as they descend and the resistance offered by the ropes in their passage through the water increases the back ropes I) become bowed between the several propelling devices 0, and thus the backs of the devices are pulled up and their inclinations kept at such an angle as produces an eifective downward propelling action. By this practically any reasonable depth can be reached by the sounding apparatus no matter what the velocity of the ship may be, and the lowermost device 0 will be kept on the bottom all the time.

The lowermost device 0 in some cases may be provided with a weight 0 or metallic toe, which would come upon and drag along the surface of the bottom.

A means for supporting the tow-lines a and b and of operating the lower line a is shown in Fig.2, and it consists of an outrigger i, hinged at 1' to the ships side j, the upper ropes I) being spaced apart and fixed in the head of the outrigger and the other one, a, being passed through the center and over a pul ley t in the head, from which part it passes over a pulley 7c, held in a frame on the ships side, where it is attached to a handserew k by turning which in one or other direction the rope a will be pulled in or paid out in operating the apparatus, as described. Vhen the apparatus is in operation and it is desired to raise it to the surface of the water, this can be done by paying out the rope a by the screw 7& which reverses the inclination of the propelling devices 0, or it may be hauled up by the rope (I.

In lieu of a radially acting apparatus wherein the radial movement takes place about the point It the apparatus may be arranged so that the lowermost propelling device will move vertically downward, as indicated in dotted lines and marked c in Fig. 1, in which case of course all the tow-lines and the whole apparatus will be paid out from the point h as the apparatus descends and the lifting or lead line d is paid out.

In lieu of using the lower tow-rope a as a means of adjusting the angle of the propelling devices 0 this maybe done by letting out and working the upper ropes b.

It will be seen that according to this invention the sounding device may be practically always directly along the side of the ship while the ship is sailing ahead and, when turning, if the device and lines get under the ship it is of no moment, as they will soon of themselves come right alongside when the ship takes its course, and they cannot get foul of the propeller or other part of the ship. Therefore under all circumstances the apparatusis not liable to become foul with any part of the ship and is under any case self-righting after it'h as been in any abnormal position due to any special movement of the ship. A further effect is that the sounding apparatus can be worked and soundings taken or indicated, and continuously, while the ship is going at full speed, and therefore, it being unnecessary to slow the ship either when the apparatus is being lowered into the water or at any other time, and the apparatus being directly under the ship and the sounding continuously taken and indicated or visible, the ship can go at full speed without danger at any time until or unless theindicator shows by the depth of the water under her that it would be dangerous to do so. By these advantages, particularly in foggy weather, the ship is enabled to obviate the loss of time which at present invariably takes place in foggy weather in having to reduce her speed in making a coast or going up channel or coming into port.

What is claimed in respect of the hereindescribed invention is 1. Ships sounding apparatus comprising an inclined propelling device towed by the ship, and adapted to be propelled downward, by being towed through the water, and upper and lower tow-ropes connected to the ship at one end, and to the lower and upper parts of the device, the upper tow rope or ropes having greater resistance to passage through the water, than the lower, whereby the upper ropes are shortened, and the inclination of the propelling device controlled, in descending through the water; substantially as set forth.

2. A ships sounding apparatus comprising propelling devices 0, tow-ropes a and 11, connected with the ship at their forward ends, and with the devices at parts aft of said connection, at their lower ends and upper parts, respectively; substantially as set forth.

3. In a ships sounding devices, a plurality of sounding propelling devices 0, upper and lower tow-ropes a and I), connected to said devices at their lower and upper parts, respectively, and the upper rope or ropes being of greater area than the lower, and a controlling-line (Z, connecting the lower end of the Iappiratus with the ship; substantially as set 4. In a sounding apparatus for use on board ship, the combination of upper and lower tow- In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my lines a and b, and propelling-disks c, to which hand in presence of two Witnesses.

said. ropes are connected at the lower and upper parts, respectively, and one of said EDWIN SUTTON OORNISH' 5 ropes being adjustable in relation to the other, Witnesses:

to Vary the inclination. of the devices; for the ERNEST R. ROYSTON, purposes specified. JOHN H. WALKER. 

